A test of vision training and potential antecedents to leaders' visioning ability

Abstract

Abstract Various individuals have argued that creating an organizational vision, which is frequently defined as an image of the future, is an important part of strategy development. Many training programs attempt to teach leaders to create an organizational vision, but there is no empirical evidence that this type of training is effective. Managers participated in a vision training program and completed measures of future time perspective, positivism, and visioning ability. Results indicated that visioning ability increased after a vision training program. In addition, results indicated that future time perspective and positivism correlated with the participants' visioning ability, suggesting that some leaders may naturally be better able than others to create an organizational vision. These results have practical implications for leadership training professionals.